(in perception) the background in a visual field, contrasted with the figure.

11.

Also called etching ground. an acid-resistant substance, composed of wax, gum, and resin in varying proportions, applied to the entire surface of an etching plate and through which the design is drawn with an etching needle.

12.

grounds, dregs or sediment:

coffee grounds.

13.

grounds, the gardens, lawn, etc., surrounding and belonging to a building.

14.

Electricity. a conducting connection between an electric circuit or equipment and the earth or some other conducting body.

ground

n.

Old English grund "bottom, foundation, ground, surface of the earth," especially "bottom of the sea" (a sense preserved in run aground), from Proto-Germanic *grundus, which seems to have meant "deep place" (cf. Old Frisian, Old Saxon, Danish, Swedish grund, Dutch grond, Old High German grunt, German Grund "ground, soil, bottom;" Old Norse grunn "a shallow place," grund "field, plain," grunnr "bottom"). No known cognates outside Germanic. Sense of "reason, motive" first attested c.1200; electrical sense is from 1870.

ground

v.

mid-13c., "to put on the ground, to strike down to the ground," from ground (n.). Of ships, "to run into the ground," from mid-15c. Meaning "to base" (an argument, sermon, etc.) is late 14c. Meaning "deny privileges" is 1940s, originally a punishment meted out to pilots (in which sense it is attested from 1930). Related: Grounded; grounding.

ground

A connection between an electrical conductor and the Earth. Grounds are used to establish a common zero-voltage reference for electric devices in order to prevent potentially dangerous voltages from arising between them and other objects. Also called earth.

The set of shared points in an electrical circuit at which the measured voltage is taken to be zero. The ground is usually connected directly to the power supply and acts as a common "sink" for current flowing through the components in the circuit.